I have a DG45ID Legacy board with the 4 series chipset and I want to install a SSD drive and Win7 Pro. I don't know which port to install the Master drive (SSD), the Slave drive (Spinning 1TB), and the Optical Drives (Blu-ray and DVD).

On the DG45ID there are five SATA2 ports with what appears to be an odd port arrangement on the DG45ID board in that they are not arranged sequentially, but rather as listed here: (I checked via my BIOS to know what was connected & where), ie 3 port arrangement (L-R: port 4, port 1, port 0), and 2 port arrangement (L-R: port 2, port 3).

Now my questions:

Q1- I have read that the Master drive (SSD) should be connected to port 1, so what should go to port 2, port 3, port 4 and what about port 0, what goes there?

Q2- for the ssd, I am installing Win7 for the first time, should I disconnect all other drive except the SSD and switch the BIOS to ACHI for the Installation of Win7 so that I have those drivers installed, and if so, what about the HD and the optical drives which use IDE? I will need those drivers as well, yes?

Q3- I have downloaded all the updated Drivers that I am prepared to install after the OS, particularly the INF Chipset drivers, however I have read on some post that I will need the latest STOR_allOS_9.6.0.1014_PV.exe driver which I have downloaded from the Drive page for the DG45ID Board and Kits. I also have read from a poster here on Intel Community (What are the needed drivers for P45 chipset motherboard for Windows 8 running from Intel 520 Series SSD?) that a IRST 11 driver is a better choice and will work for better ACHI Mode support without being in RAID Mode configuration. If I do not plan to run my SSD and HDD in RAID Mode, then (1) do I need to install the IRST drivers at all, and (2) returning to the question of the right drivers for SSD and HDD/Optical Drives with Win7, which drivers should I install?

Q4- Are there any Registry changes that should be made to support the ACHI and/or IDE modes for this 4 Series Chipset?

There is a lot of garbage information out there, some not applicable to your situation and some from people who don't truly know what they are talking about. While some of these questions could be answered with a lot more detail, I will stick with simple, absolute statements so there is no ambiguity...

Connect your SSD to port 0 and your ODD to port 2.

You can avoid some complications by not installing the HDD until after you have Windows running on the SSD. When you do, connect it to Port 1.

You should be using ACHI mode.

You do not need to install the Intel Rapid Storage package unless you are using RAID -- which you are not.

[Aside: while it's true that RST could result in better performance, it is negligible and not worth the hassle IMHO.]

No registry changes are necessary if you properly chose AHCI more before installing Windows.

I first want to thank you for responding to my questions for installing the SSD for the DG45ID motherboard, but more than that, please accept my apologizes for my late response...

Yes on Sat. 04-16-2016, I finally did follow your suggestions and have achieved exactly what I hoped.

1- The SSD is on SATA port 0, and my HDD is on SATA port 1. for follow with SATA port 2 empty, with SATA ports 3 & 4 filled by my two Optical Drives: DVD and BD respectively.

2- I was not able to install Win7 Pro to the SSD in ACHI Mode, I tried at least twice and it just would not work therefore, I installed Win7 in IDE Mode and after Windows preformed all it's updates, I entered Regedit and modified the Registry by changing the value data field entry from 3 (IDE) to 0 (ACHI), rebooted to BIOS to change the SATA mode from IDE to ACHI, rebooted for Win7 to install the ACHI drivers and then I was done... My SSD was running in ACHI mode.

3- Well, I had also purchased 8 GB (4x 2Gb) DDR2 6400 from Crucial Technology and after installing all the Drams in slots, my computer would not start-up, so I tried several different memory configurations. Originally, I had 2 GB (2x 1Gb) under WinXP Pro, but I knew that Win7 had a large foot print, so I reinstalled the original 2 GB with one Dram in Slot 0, Channel A and the second Dram I used to test each of the remaining slots and found each was fine, so repeating the same proceedure, I tested each of the Crucial 2Gb Drams until I found that I had (1) bad Dram.

So, as it stands now, I am running in 2 channel inter-leaf mode, 6 GB (2x 1Gb + 2x 2Gb) until I am able to RMA the bad Dram with Crucial.

I need to tell you that I am extremely pleased with the results... I know it is an older platform, however you folks at Intel build technology even after 6 years still has a lot of life available to serve the user who's needs such as mine are, word processing and 2D & 3D CAD (that's why the 8Gb Dram), not to mention e.Entertainment that this PC provides me.

Scott, I don't want you to feel that I ignored you, since I did not... I saw you response to my post on Saturday 9th, in fact on Weds 13th, I entered the Intel Post you responded to with the intention to write to you, but I did not because I had not done anything with my PC... at that point I was seriously considering updating my BIOS and boy am I glad that I did not do that. If updating the BIOS is something you wish to advise me about, don't hesitate to do so since I have downloaded all the BIOS between my current revision 00097 and the current revision 0135. I have them in the .BIO and the IFlash format, so if you think that this is necessary, if you believe my computing would benefit for the updated BIOS to the current revision, then I would love to hear your comments.

FYI, Tuesday 12th through Thursday 14th, I was with my Mother at the Hospital, since she is thought to have had a mini-stroke and thus, Monday 18th we will see her regular Doctor... it's been a tough week for me last week and that's why I did not upgrade my PC until Saturday 16th.

Again Scott, I want to thank you for your response... in spite of all you have read above, I am no expert with computers... sure I built my PC in 2010 and sure I modifyed the Registry, but that's because I follow direction very well, but I am learning more and more as a result of each software or hardware fix or hack I perform...

So, thanks again... I will copy Amy to this message as well, since she kindly responded to my questions as well.

This is what I wrote to Scott and I wanted to tell you what I performed as well...

I first want to thank you for responding to my questions for installing the SSD for the DG45ID motherboard, but more than that, please accept my apologizes for my late response...

Yes on Sat. 04-16-2016, I finally did follow your suggestions and have achieved exactly what I hoped.

1- The SSD is on SATA port 0, and my HDD is on SATA port 1. for follow with SATA port 2 empty, with SATA ports 3 & 4 filled by my two Optical Drives: DVD and BD respectively.

2- I was not able to install Win7 Pro to the SSD in ACHI Mode, I tried at least twice and it just would not work therefore, I installed Win7 in IDE Mode and after Windows preformed all it's updates, I entered Regedit and modified the Registry by changing the value data field entry from 3 (IDE) to 0 (ACHI), rebooted to BIOS to change the SATA mode from IDE to ACHI, rebooted for Win7 to install the ACHI drivers and then I was done... My SSD was running in ACHI mode.

3- Well, I had also purchased 8 GB (4x 2Gb) DDR2 6400 from Crucial Technology and after installing all the Drams in slots, my computer would not start-up, so I tried several different memory configurations. Originally, I had 2 GB (2x 1Gb) under WinXP Pro, but I knew that Win7 had a large foot print, so I reinstalled the original 2 GB with one Dram in Slot 0, Channel A and the second Dram I used to test each of the remaining slots and found each was fine, so repeating the same proceedure, I tested each of the Crucial 2Gb Drams until I found that I had (1) bad Dram.

So, as it stands now, I am running in 2 channel inter-leaf mode, 6 GB (2x 1Gb + 2x 2Gb) until I am able to RMA the bad Dram with Crucial.

I need to tell you that I am extremely pleased with the results... I know it is an older platform, however you folks at Intel build technology even after 6 years still has a lot of life available to serve the user who's needs such as mine are, word processing and 2D & 3D CAD (that's why the 8Gb Dram), not to mention e.Entertainment that this PC provides me.

Scott, I don't want you to feel that I ignored you, since I did not... I saw you response to my post on Saturday 9th, in fact on Weds 13th, I entered the Intel Post you responded to with the intention to write to you, but I did not because I had not done anything with my PC... at that point I was seriously considering updating my BIOS and boy am I glad that I did not do that. If updating the BIOS is something you wish to advise me about, don't hesitate to do so since I have downloaded all the BIOS between my current revision 00097 and the current revision 0135. I have them in the .BIO and the IFlash format, so if you think that this is necessary, if you believe my computing would benefit for the updated BIOS to the current revision, then I would love to hear your comments.

FYI, Tuesday 12th through Thursday 14th, I was with my Mother at the Hospital, since she is thought to have had a mini-stroke and thus, Monday 18th we will see her regular Doctor... it's been a tough week for me last week and that's why I did not upgrade my PC until Saturday 16th.

Again Scott, I want to thank you for your response... in spite of all you have read above, I am no expert with computers... sure I built my PC in 2010 and sure I modifyed the Registry, but that's because I follow direction very well, but I am learning more and more as a result of each software or hardware fix or hack I perform...

So, thanks again... I will copy Amy to this message as well, since she kindly responded to my questions as well.

One additional comment... talking about the SATA port assignments... I had expected that the SATA ports would have been fixed assignments... to my surprise the port assignment is designated by the BIOS. Thus, after multiple rearrangements of the SATA cables until I landed upon the SSD in port 0 and the HDD in port 1 was challenging, because after I had the SSD in port 0 per the BIOS, and after installing the HDD, the BIOS designated the HDD to port 0 and the SSD to port 1... wacky. This is why I commented that the DG45ID board had an odd port arrangement not knowing that the BIOS was the governing factor. I am a EE (not electronic, but electrical) and I expected that the SATA port assignment would be fixed as in other electronics (PLC and PAC controllers) with which I have experience.

In the old days (before I knew anything about SATA port assignment) I would just plug in the SATA cables, enter the BIOS and rearrange the Boot order, but now I feel I have learned something that has added to my current base on knowledge which will assist me later this year whenI begin a newer build... again to meet a specific need that my current PC can not meet.

First of all, since it was so many generations ago (hint, hint ), I had forgotten about the issues with AHCI support that existed back then. While I never ran into the problem myself (I stuck with IDE mode as long as I could; too many teething pains with AHCI), I read about the folks who were turning on AHCI after the fact to get that slight improvement in performance (but I wasn't worried about it enough to even try).

I gave the simple port assignment because, provided nothing had been done previously, it avoided the need to change the boot order. The fact is, any device will work plugged into any port - if you are willing to play with the boot order and perhaps drive letter assignments (I do this every time I install Windows to ensure that I have SSD first, HDDs second, ODDs third and USB (removable) drives after that). The only time that I worry about port assignments is if I want to use RAID or SSD Caching. In later generations (where the assignment wackiness is lessened ), you see other issues. For example, in many of the new NUCs, which support both an internal (mSATA or M.2) SSD and a 2.5" HDD, the HDD is physically connected to SATA Port 0 and the SSD is physically connected to SATA Port 1. This means that you have to change the boot order for sure (well, you could let the HDD be the boot device but still have the SSD host the System partition, but this means that the HDD cannot be removed/replaced without reinstalling the O/S). In the latest NUC BIOSs, the wackiness comes back as you decide whether you do Legacy or UEFI boot and can set different boot orders for both...

Since you are sticking with Windows 7, no worries. My recommendation: do not let Microsoft upgrade you to Windows 10. You will definitely have problems (or at least performance differences) then (IMHO), since hardware this old is only supported via generic drivers. Download and run the GWX Control Panel and use it to avoid having Microsoft automatically upgrade you...

Finally, let me say that I certainly do not worry if someone is slow to respond - or not respond at all. My philosophy is that, if they aren't actively complaining, they must not have a problem any longer...

Oh yea, BTW, I am not an Intel employee (well, not any longer; I retired last year); I do this for the fun of it. While you do see Intel Customer Support folks in the forum, remember that this is a User-to-User Support Community and there are no guarantees that Intel Customer Support will even read a particular posting. I hate seeing people complaining because no one from Intel responds to their postings - or worse, saying that Intel support sucks. What part of "Community" don't they get?